


Thanks For The Memories

by IrisofParadise



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AOU spoilers, Clint's family is part of the Tahiti project, Gen, Past Clint Barton/Bobbi Morse, Tahiti is a Magical Place, sorta?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 13:51:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5093153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrisofParadise/pseuds/IrisofParadise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why does Clint's life feel so weird now? He's got a perfect life with his loving wife and three children. But maybe it's all too perfect? Because he's remembering weird things like a girl with black hair, a dog with one eye, and angry Russians.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thanks For The Memories

**Author's Note:**

> I really did not like how they did Clint's family in AoU. I was very disappointed. And Hawkeye is my favorite super hero ever and the comics are like my fave thing and I love the Tahiti Project headcanon that was on tumblr so I figured why not attempt to write a crappy fic for it?

Tahiti is a magical place.

_"Okay, what you did. Bad boyfriend 101. No question. You blew it. But... You're not a bad person Clint."_

Tahiti is a magical place.

_"Fix. This. Dog."_

Tahiti is a magica-

Clint jerks awake in a cold sweat, heart racing and gasping for breath, his blue eyes wide and searching in the darkness for anything out of place.

But everything is out of place. And he can't place why.

Maybe it's the warm body of his wife curled up against his side?

But it shouldn't be that. He loves Laura. She's so perfect in every way imaginable. She's always so patient with him. She's such a great mother to their children.

Maybe that's it? The children?

No.

The children, his children, are perfect. They're a gift. Little miracles.

So maybe it's the pictures in his head? Yes. That's it.

_'I have to carve these pictures out of his head,_ ' he thinks as he slips out of the bed, being oh so careful not to jostle Laura, perfect and beautiful Laura, awake. He makes his way to the barn almost in a daze and it's in here that he takes the pocket knife from where he'd laid it earlier on the tractor and begins to carve into the wall again.

A circle here. Now a line. Another circle. Line. Line. Circle. 

It's sunrise when he finally snaps back to himself. A hard look at the wall and he gives a nod. Closes the pocket knife. Slips it into his pocket. And shuts and locks the barn door.

 

~oOo~

 

It'd been a hard decision. Clint was her best friend. And it hurt having to watch her best friend hurt the way that he was so obviously hurting. He'd scream. Cry out.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. Nat! Nat, he's still in my head! He's still here!"

And Director Fury had pursed his lips as he watched the video footage. And later told her, "There's something you should know. It's a new project. T.A.H.I.T.I. It's a," he trailed off slightly before giving an unamused smirk, "I've been told it's a magical place."

Cue Agent Laura Adams, a recently widowed agent with two children. And soon enough Clint Barton had memories of being happily married to a Mrs. Laura Barton and the happy couple had two beautiful children and lived in an old family farm that had once belonged to the Barton family in Iowa.

Laura made sure to keep an eye on Clint. If he began to act odd, she would report to S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

~oOo~

 

Clint walked back into the house, made his way to the kitchen where Laura was finishing making chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. He gave a bright grin at her worried look and the worry quickly melted into a warm smile. He missed how she seemed to be watching him closely though. He let his guard down around his wife because he had nothing to hide. Right?

"Another nightmare, Clint?" Sometimes it was so hard for her not to call him Agent Barton. It was so hard to see this man, Clint, as the infamous Agent Barton.

He gave a shrug, thought about telling her the truth because why shouldn't he tell his wife that he loved so much the truth? But he ultimately decided to just say, "Dreamed about Sokovia again."

Laura frowned and handed him a plate. "I'm sorry. Do you need to talk about it?"

Again, he thought about it. But, "Nah," a small wave, "just dreams. Where are the kids?"

"Getting ready for school."

A nod from the blonde and then he was eating slowly. He watched expressionless as the kids ate and talked and Laura held the baby, their baby, their little Nathaniel. He didn't notice the worried look Laura had for just a moment.

This didn't feel right.

Must be the kitchen. It needs to be remodeled.

 

~oOo~

 

Tahiti is a magical place.

_"Sorry about that. Out guests didn't uh. Guess you could say those guys really... They really... Those two guys. They uh... I threw em off the fire escape."_

Tahiti is a magical place.

_"This thing you're about to do. This running away thing. It's everything about you that sucks!"_

Tahiti is a magical place.

_"Bro what are you, bro? Fairy godmother?! This a lot of money bro!"_  

Tahiti is a magi-

He jerks awake. Can feel his heart racing, can actually pretend that he can hear it thundering in his head. 

His life is good. He's comfortable. But it just is not right and why isn't it right?!

Laura makes a muffled noise in her sleep before rolling onto her side, facing away from Clint now. And he groans softly and rubs his hands over his face.

He can almost remember long black hair and snappy remarks. But the girl, whoever she is, is so important to him. 

There's a dog barking in his memories.

Angry words being spoken in heavily accented Russian.

Maybe if he carved into the barn wall the thoughts will go away.

And that's how Lila finds him hours later. She doesn't say anything, just tilts her head and goes back to the house and says, "Mama, Daddy's in the barn carving funny pictures into the walls."

Laura frowns. "Cooper, honey, can you hold onto Nathaniel for a moment? I'm going to go check on your dad." The words are almost bittersweet as she says them. The children don't notice.

Before she leaves the house she grabs her phone and gun.

She stands in the doorway, silently watching Agent Barton carve into the barn walls. She snaps a picture and sends it to Natasha with a quick message of, ' _I don't think this is normal?'_ She holds her gun in her hand firmly as she slips the phone back into her pocket. "Clint."

The man startles and jerks to look over at her. "Laura?" His eyes widen at the sight of the gun that she's holding. It's obvious in the way she stands and holds the gun that she's done this before. That she can and will shoot if need be. "Laura?"

"Clint. Sit down."

He sits almost in a dazed way. And the two wait. Laura expects for Natasha to come soon, she knows that S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarriers are fast so it shouldn't be too long. But she doesn't expect for a dead man and a girl in her twenties to come into the barn half an hour later.

Laura looks surprised, face pale. "Agent C-"

"You're dead," Clint interrupts, face pale.

There's a moment of silence and then Coulson slowly makes his way over to Clint, hands held out as if to show how non threatening that he is. "Hey Clint. It's okay now. We're going to take you with us for a bit. Okay?"

 

~oOo~

 

"No! You're lying!" Clint shouts, shaking his head in disbelief and shock at what he's hearing. "That didn't happen! No! I'm happy with my life! My kids! My wife, Bobbi!"

Bobbi jerks as if she's just been hit. Clint looks as though he's just had cold water spilled on him. He licks his lips, looks up between Coulson and Bobbi, "Bobbi and I aren't married anymore. We've been divorced for a long time." A slow nod from the blonde woman who once had meant the world to him. "How... How did I forget that? How could I forget that? Kate was- and Nat..." He trails off and holds his head. He feels sick to his stomach.

He remembers long black hair. A laugh from a girl who's perfect and great. A bark from a dog that he loves a lot. Neighbors who are laughing. The smell of barbecue on top of a building.

He feels sick.

 

~oOo~

 

Tahiti is a magical place.

_"I am way more right than you people give me credit for. How ya doin' over there, Hawkeye?"_

_"Good enough, Hawkeye."_

_"Lucky, stop eating the Russian."_

Tahiti is a magical place.

_"Good dog. You're a good dog. Don't stop fighting boy."_

Tahiti is a magical place.

_"Guess what."_

_"Barney."_

_"No, dumbass, you say chicken butt. Only been doin' that since you was six..."_

Tahiti is a ma-

He jerks awake. Finds himself in what he can only think to describe it as a S.H.I.E.L.D. holding cell. He closes his eyes, steadies his breathing, places a hand over his racing heart and wills himself to calm down.

Tahi-

No.

He shakily stands up.

No more.

He's a fighter. He's run before. From home with Barney. From the circus. And by god he can definitely run from S.H.I.E.L.D. No one can keep him where he doesn't want to be kept. Especially not his ex-wifey.

He's a spy. He has training. So he leaves.

And come morning he's walking around in a familiar yet not so much part of New York.

"Clint?"

He looks up startled at the woman, Kate, who looks like she's just seen a ghost. She runs over to him, the golden dog barking and running behind her, and she jumps and hugs him tightly all the while yelling out, "Oh my god you ass! Where the hell have you been for the past few months?! Dropping countries and not coming home apparently!"

"Katie..."

"Oh no, you don't get to Katie me! I am so mad at you for worrying me so much, Hawkeye!"

She still hasn't let him go. And he shakes a bit. And he wraps his arms around her and drops his forehead to her shoulder and lets the tears fall.

"Clint?"

He shakes his head. "Everything is shit right now and I feel so broken and I don't understand why."

She pauses a moment but then she's hugging him back just as tightly and rubbing soothing circles onto his back. "Hey, come on loser. You're home now. I don't know where you've been or what happened but it's okay. You're safe and you're home. Wanna grab pizza?"

And Clint laughs and nods, still holding onto her. "Yeah. Pizza sounds great right now."

Lucky gives a bark and continues to wag his tail as if to agree that yes, pizza right now would be great.


End file.
